Hoover's Girlfriend Helping U.s. Case

Plea Bargain Ensures Her Testimony

January 31, 1996|By Matt O'Connor, Tribune Staff Writer.

Larry Hoover's longtime girlfriend, described by prosecutors as a member of the Gangster Disciple leader's "innermost circle," is cooperating with authorities and could provide key testimony against him in his drug conspiracy trial later this year.

Bertha Mosby, who once faced up to life imprisonment for dealing hundreds of pounds of cocaine on Hoover's behalf, was sentenced Tuesday in a locked courtroom to 5 years in prison--a result of her assistance in the case against Hoover.

To emphasize the dangers Mosby faces, prosecutors told the judge that the Gangster Disciples had already murdered one undisclosed government witness and killed another potential witness. "She is literally placing her life on the line," Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Prosperi told U.S. District Judge James Alesia.

The Gangster Disciples are considered the Midwest's largest gang and one of the nation's most sophisticated. Mosby, who knew Hoover for 25 years before their breakup a couple of years ago, could give rare insights into the gang's growth and its purported drug operations. Tearfully, she confessed her role in those activities Tuesday.

"I would like to apologize to you, your honor," said Mosby. "And I would like to ask God for forgiveness for all the wrongdoings I have done, like dealing drugs in the street and distributing them in the community."

"Is she going to be a witness against Mr. Hoover?" asked the judge.

"Yes, sir," Prosperi replied.

Prosecutors already are armed with secretly recorded audio tapes of Hoover as he talked business to trusted lieutenants in a minimum-security prison. But those tapes cover only six weeks in late 1993 because one Hoover leader discovered the government bug.

Mosby could provide a different--and perhaps deeper--view of Hoover. "Due to her personal history and relationship with Mr. Hoover that dates back over 25 years, the information that she will be providing, and has provided to the grand jury already, is extreme," David Styler, a special assistant U.S. attorney, said at the closed-door hearing. "We cannot overestimate that enough."

Authorities said they closed her sentencing hearing for security reasons, but Mosby's plea agreement and other records were unsealed later Tuesday.

The first of three scheduled trials aimed at Hoover's gang began this week in federal court. There are 39 defendants, including Hoover, who is expected to go on trial as early as October.

Authorities allege that Hoover, who has been incarcerated since 1973 for murder, has continued to run the gang from state prison. Hoover is not married, though he refers to Winndye Jenkins as his common-law wife.

Mosby, a former beauty shop operator, was the first witness to come forward in the Hoover investigation, a prosecutor said. Mosby is in the federal witness protection program and has been incarcerated since at least April 1994.

Mosby's plea agreement said she distributed more than 330 pounds of cocaine on Hoover's behalf between 1986 and 1992. She used Hoover's money to buy the cocaine and resell it on Chicago streets, she admitted.

Mosby's lawyer said she had a falling-out with Hoover over a robbery, apparently committed by gang members. Even after that, Mosby's plea agreement said, she continued to deal cocaine on her own, selling about two kilograms each month until her arrest in 1994.

The first of three expected trials focusing on the Gangster Disciple hierarchy continued Tuesday, with jurors hearing testimony from a former security officer for the gang.